Головки звукоснимателя — Genuin Audio sting

The sting is a moving-coil cartridge from Genuin Audio, the German company whose products are made in-house in Germany to designs by named outside designers. It is the brand's only cartridge and sits in a range that also includes the drive turntable, the point tonearm, the pearl phono stage, the tars music server and a series of active loudspeakers. Genuin names the pearl phono stage and the point tonearm as its partners.

Key specs that matter

Output is 0.45 mV at 1 kHz and 5.6 cm/s, channel balance is better than 1 dB and separation exceeds 25 dB. Internal impedance is 14 ohm ±20%, with coils of 99.9999% pure copper. Compliance is 5 x 10-6 cm/dyne, and the recommended tracking force is 2.5 g ±0.3 g. Frequency response is 20 Hz to 45 kHz. The cartridge needs a load above 100 ohm, and Genuin recommends 500 to 1,000 ohm. It weighs 11.1 g and suits tonearms with an effective mass of 12 to 20 g. At 2.5 g it tracks more than 80 µm on the Ortofon test record. The stylus is a Microridge diamond on a boron tube cantilever.

Engineering and use context

The sting has no conventional body. The moving-coil generator is mounted on a plate of graphite fibre, chosen for rigidity and for absorbing resonance, with milled grooves along and across it that break up vibration paths. A cover protects the solder pins of the coil wires, and 2.5 mm threads are machined into the plate for mounting. An additional large iron-neodymium magnet strengthens and linearises the magnetic field, which raises output and lowers intermodulation, and Genuin notes that it also attracts metal particles before they can settle in the air gap. The boron tube cantilever is stiffer than aluminium with a lower moving mass, so it transmits the stylus movement to the coils with little flexing. The Microridge stylus is shaped after the cutting stylus used to make the master, so its contact profile follows the groove closely. This compliance places the cartridge in the low-compliance range, which is why Genuin recommends medium to heavy tonearms.

Pairing

The pearl phono stage from Genuin offers MC loading from 125 ohm to 2 kOhm and covers the recommended load. The point tonearm and the drive turntable complete a Genuin analogue system, and other medium to heavy arms suit it as well.

Alternatives

Genuin Audio makes no other cartridge besides the sting.